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I agree with all the statements above. I use my #8 for shooting. I used to use my block plane because the jack I have was broken and brazed before it came to me, with lumps of brazing on the sides....

Are you pressing the blade harder in the middle? The LN blades are pretty thick, and shouldn't flex that much, but that could impact it enough to be giving you trouble. Any chance we could get a...

I've only used it to make spoons, it doesn't grow too big around my immediate area. Working it green it seems to behave a lot like White Birch.

I have the LV on my bench, and it works well enough to satisfy me. It's not super fast, but most of the time I'm repeating cuts on similar dimension stock so it only takes a couple of turns to...

I bought the Lee Valley scrub about a year ago, and hardly use it. I think you would do fine to buy almost any old plane and grind a radius on the edge and use it. Many times the radius that came...

My sharpening kit right now consists of a 2x6" coarse/fine DMT plate, and a strop with two different compounds. I believe the fine side of the DMT is rated at 600 grit, with the coarse maybe 220 or...

My top is about 5 1/2" thick, and the designated holdfast hole in the middle of the bench is counterbored from the bottom a couple of inches. I frequently use them in the regular dog holes, however,...

Have a look at this bench build:
http://www.closegrain.com/2010/08/portable-workbench.html

It is difficult to build a bench without a bench, ironically, but maybe you can do it Japanese style...

Matt Bickford, the gentleman you probably talked to at the show, is very knowledgeable and creates beautiful planes. He has quite a bit of information on his website about how to use the planes, and...

One of the big reasons I chose a leg vise for my bench is its simplicity. It was easy to build with a $30 vise screw from Lee Valley and a big hunk of Maple I got for cheap, works great, and if...

I used two 6x6 pressure treated for the top of my Roubo inspired bench, a really well mated glue joint reinforced with a couple of 10" timberlocks. No issues after a year, with at least a month's...

I know that in England 01 is often called "silver steel", outside of that I'm afraid I can't be of much help to you. Good luck in your search!

I agree, have a look around all the lumber options. I made the top of my bench from two 6x6 posts with a tool well on the back. It was really nice to only have to joint two faces and do one glue up...

Trevor, that bench is looking good! (I just came from your blog where I saw the top about ready to go on).

After having used a couple of benches, and experimented with some minimalist work...

You can use round dogs with a spring in them, like these:
http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?p=31127&cat=1,41637,41645&ap=1

You can carve almost anything into a spoon, I've seen tons of Maple and Oak down, a little Birch. I use Maple all the time for spoons, because it's what I have the most access to. I always keep my...

When cutting the stretchers for my workbench, I just put them on a sawbench and sawed below me (with a Western saw). I stabilized them upright with my knee, if I remember correctly. I agree that...

Leatherman is good to have around for those odd little things that pop up when away from home, but its not as good as a dedicated tool if the task needs to be done for more than a few minutes or...

If all hope is lost, in order to save scrapping the wood, you can just cut off the dovetails and start again. Unless the box has to be a really specific dimension, this way it will only shrink an...

I agree the issue is probably the softness of the MDF. I use my Gramercy holdfasts in a 5 1/4" thick benchtop no problem.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ue4LCtaEgws/Tj8lffgdTUI/AAAAAAAAAV8/BcpjadAVkXk/s1600/IMG_1423.JPG

I took that image after a few flattening strokes on my set. The 3/4 had an edge that was raised up...

Looks like Roy broke a chunk off none-other-than Chris Schwarz's beautiful workbench!

Since only the very edges of the tooth are hardened, even at the base of the tooth they should be soft enough to bend. Next time I need to change the set in a saw, I'm going to try this trick:...

If I remember correctly from my knife-geek days, O1 is a little more forgiving in heat treat. By which I mean that if you mess up, and have to re-anneal and then re-attempt heat treat, it will react...

I started out using my block plane, the only one suitable at the time. It was difficult to say the least-hard to hang on to, no mass to carry it through the board, etc.

Then I used my...